Japan has chosen a small, irregularly shaped moon orbiting Mars rather than the planet itself for its latest space exploration mission, taking advantage of Phobos' extremely weak gravity and lack of atmosphere to make collecting extraterrestrial samples and returning them to Earth far easier and less expensive, while potentially unlocking secrets about the history of Mars and the origins of water and organic materials in the solar system.
Japan's H3 rocket successfully launched the Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) spacecraft from the Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture on the morning of October 20th, placing the probe into its planned orbit in the first stage of a mission to collect samples from one of Mars' moons and return them to Earth.
JR West has unveiled multifunctional railway maintenance machinery, including a heavy-duty single-arm robot and a mass-produced humanoid robot, as part of efforts to address labor shortages and reduce workplace accidents in railway maintenance operations.
Subaru unveiled experimental vehicles equipped with a new driver assistance system on October 18, introducing technology that can automatically guide a vehicle to a safe roadside location when the driver becomes incapacitated, with plans to introduce the system in production models by the late 2020s.
Japan will launch its H3 rocket No. 10 from the Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture at 4:41 a.m. on October 20, carrying a spacecraft designed to collect rocks and sand from Phobos, one of Mars' two moons, and return them to Earth in what would be the world's first successful mission of its kind.
One of Japan's largest digital technology exhibitions, CEATEC 2026, opened in Tokyo on October 13, drawing attention to advances in artificial intelligence designed to combat cyberattacks and improve rescue operations at disaster sites, with 821 companies and organizations showcasing their latest innovations over four days.